, Paris, 1747, p. 75.) The
circumference of the ancient city (Euseb. Preparat. Evangel. l. ix. c.
36) was 27 stadia, or 2550 toises. A plan, taken on the spot, assigns
no more than 1980 for the modern town. The circuit is defined by natural
landmarks, which cannot be mistaken or removed.]

[Footnote 61: See two curious passages in Jerom, (tom. i. p. 102, tom.
vi. p. 315,) and the ample details of Tillemont, (Hist, des Empereurs,
tom. i. p. 569. tom. ii. p. 289, 294, 4to edition.)]

[Footnote 61a: On the site of the Holy Sepulchre, compare the chapter
in Professor Robinson's Travels in Palestine, which has renewed the old
controversy with great vigor. To me, this temple of Venus, said to
have been erected by Hadrian to insult the Christians, is not the least
suspicious part of the whole legend.-M. 1845.]

[Footnote 62: Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 25-47, 51-53. The
emperor likewise built churches at Bethlem, the Mount of Olives, and the
oa of Mambre. The holy sepulchre is described by Sandys, (Travels, p.
125-133,) and curiously delineated by Le Bruyn, (Voyage au Levant, p.
28-296.)]

The passionate desire of contemplating the original monuments of their
redemption attracted to Jerusalem a successive crowd of pilgrims, from
the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and the most distant countries of the
East; [63] and their piety was authorized by the example of the empress
Helena, who appears to have united the credulity of age with the warm
feelings of a recent conversion. Sages and heroes, who have visited
the memorable scenes of ancient wisdom or glory, have confessed the
inspiration of the genius of the place; [64] and the Christian who knelt
before the holy sepulchre, ascribed his lively faith, and his fervent
devotion, to the more immediate influence of the Divine Spirit. The
zeal, perhaps the avarice, of the clergy of Jerusalem, cherished and
multiplied these beneficial visits. They fixed, by unquestionable
tradition, the scene of each memorable event. They exhibited the
instruments which had been used in the passion of Christ; the nails and
the lance that had pierced his hands, his feet, and his side; the crown
of thorns that was planted on his head; the pillar at which he was
scourged; and, above all, they showed the cross on which he suffered,
and which was dug out of the earth in the reign of those princes, who
inserted the symbol of Christianity in the banners of the Roman legions.
[65] Such miracles a